Metro Joint Development met with Venetians for first time to obtain input as to what they would like on the MTA lot at Sunset between Pacific and Main.
Names can get confusing. Metro is the shortened name for the Metropolitan Transit Authority. MTA is an even shorter version of that and has been deemed the name for the site. Metro refers to the project in Venice as Metro 6.
Wells Lawson, spokesperson, gave the opening introduction to explain that Metro had 30 projects in planning and Metro wanted to know what Venetians wanted on the 3.1 acres (136,000 square feet) presently zoned industrial and in their neighborhood and formerly known as the Bus Yard and now MTA site.
Metro wanted to know what the makeup of the group they were addressing so they passed out recording response calculators that compiled answers and within seconds were displayed on a screen in bar charts for all to see. Some of the questions were what percentage of your income went for housing, your age, how long you had lived in Venice, etc.
People were assigned to a table with a facilitator who led the questions pertaining to what Venetians specifically envisioned for the space. There were five to six tables consisting of 10 to 12 people.
Some of the people were very skeptical because the Mayor, the Councilman and two supervisors are all on the board of the Metro. One person mentioned he felt it was a done deal because of this makeup. The facilitator at one table said it wasn’t and explained that the Metro projects normally had 35 percent affordable housing. Venetians feel they have not had any say in the previous homeless developments in Venice so some were expecting the worst.
Each group appointed a spokesperson and the spokesperson or person summarized what the group at his/her table had wanted and what they hadn’t wanted. No one seemed to object to affordable housing and market rate housing. Places for artists was mentioned to preserve the heritage of Venice. Many spokespeople mentioned mixed use and a meeting place for the community with sufficient parking. One wanted it larger than Westminster. Size of the meeting place differed. Height was discussed and became a yes and no for extra height. One group mentioned that it would be nice if they provided additional parking for the neighboring community both commercial and residential as well as adequate parking for their site. The PIA/MIA wall was mentioned and it was agreed that it needed to be preserved. PSH housing was never mentioned as a desirable option; in fact, several people said they didn’t want it.
Next meeting will be 1 December, 10 am to noon at the Boys and Girls Club of Venice, 2232 Lincoln Blvd. An open house will be held in 2019 to present the findings from this process.
If unable to attend the meeting in person, comments can also be provided online at metro.net/division6. For more questions or more information, contact Metro’s project manager: Olvia Segura, 213-922-7156, division6@metro.ne